Our Final Thriller: "Alice"

Audience Feedback

Evaluation 7- What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary to the full product?

Evaluation 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

"What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?"

We used a range of different technologies during the process of our product.

Blogger:
We used Blogger as the site for our Blog and were we post items throughout the process of making and reaching our final product. Blogger has allowed us to view how far our initial ideas have changed from our final idea. We have used blogger at school, at home and due to there being an iPhone and Android app we have also been able to use it whilst out on filming

Social Networking sites:
We used social networking sites such as twitter and Instagram to post tweets and pictures/ videos of the process and procedures we took to get to our final product. We also used the two networks as a way to promote our film and get a following and interest from our target audience. We used these from our phones and online. Account: KEGGPRODUCTIONS.

Flipagram and Youtube:
We used Flipagram and YouTube to create videos of different things that we either found out, or changed throughout the process of making our thriller opening. Flipagram, we felt, would be a more interesting way of presenting our ideas instead of normal videos. We used YouTube to post videos that we did do and then shared the videos and Flipagram's to blogger.

Prezi and Microsoft Powerpoint:
We used Microsoft Powerpoint and Prezi a lot during the process of making our product as we felt it was an easy and clever way of informing our audience of the different stages we were at with our product and were we got our ideas from etc.

Apple Products and Pinnacle:
We used Apple Products such as iPhones and iPods to take pictures and film videos for our product. Our Thriller Opening was filmed on iPhones as we felt that the camera quality was of a high standard and that we would be able to achieve our aims with this piece of technology. We used Pinnacle Studio to edit and put together the different videos and create our finalised Thriller Opening. We cropped and lengthened the videos and also changed the colour to black and white in order to make the audience feel more tension. We also used Splice, an app for iPhones, to edit together our Prelim task.

Preview's of our twitter page and Instagram page, used to promote our film and create an audience. Also an image of our company logo and our final video on YouTube.

Evaluation 5- How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?



Alice                                                    Esther

A key character I have chosen to use in this evaluation is the main character in our thriller, Alice. We have chosen this character in particular as we feel that the similarities and differences between her and Esther from Orphan (2009) are clear and easy to identify.

The similarities between the two characters are based on the appearance, costume, the role in the film and representation.

The first similarity is based on the appearance of the characters. We can see that Alice is pale, looks gormless and her eyes are wide with pain and control. In addition, we can see that Esther also is pale and has similar features to Alice in the way they come across and in particular, their dark eyes and dark rings underneath them. However, for effect, we used dark make up for Alice to enhance the intended purpose for the character, as she needed to look unpleasant to get the message across.

Costume also plays a big part in identifying the characters as it shows a clear representation of what and who they are. In this case, Alice is wearing a school shirt showing in the picture above as this indicates she may be a young school girl with many problems to follow. This creates empathy as the audience will feel much closer to the character as she is so young and vulnerable. In contrast, in the specific picture displayed above, Esther seems to be wearing a low- cut top and also a ribbon is shown around her neck which may have some indication into the type of character she is in the film. This provides a huge contrast in characters, however, in other scenes throughout the film 'Orphan', is represented in a vulnerable way also and shows how her identity may be false or hidden in some way. This is shown by her pretty collared shirt and neatly done hair.

The role both characters play in the film are also similar as Alice plays the main antagonist in our film as she brings pain and distress into people's lives. Even though she may be young and her vulnerability is shown, Alice is clever but sly in the way she acts and uses her power as a young school girl to promote this. Esther also, is highly intelligent, manipulative, incredibly charming and lacks remorse. Both names, 'Alice' and 'Esther' have different hidden meanings to them. For example, 'Alice' was chosen to provide a sense of vulnerability and weakness as a young school girl. However, the name 'Esther' provides a more religious aspect as the name 'Esther' is biblical which adds to her character. These are the differences shown between characters as we can see that they both have very different interpretations for each film.

Due to us being sixteen year old girls, we chose Megan (Alice) as the main and atypical character as we felt that this would be the most effective and have a better impact on the audience. Normally, you would see a little girl as innocent, quiet and shy but in this case, she is a sly, cunning girl as she plans evil, possessive events on innocent victims. However, this could be an under-lying meaning of what her past was like and her cause of death.

In contrast, our new and updated character, Kayleigh, Alice's older sister is a typical, caring and loving bigger sister in this situation and provides a contrast between characters.

Evaluation 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
by Kayleigh Beard & Georgia Seth

Title:
Due to our thriller being set in a dark, gloomy environment, and the name of the young girl being 'Alice', we felt the title ‘Alice’ suited our film perfectly, due to its simple yet effective tone. The font used to present our film in the opening title delivers the creepy image we aim to give off to the audience when seeing our title, and we believe the font ties in well with the title. We also decided ‘Alice’ could mean a lot of things due to the simplicity of the title name, leaving the audience guessing as to what it can mean.

Setting/Location:
Our original set idea was a park with a dark gloomy forest where we wouldn't have to stop and start whilst there were members of the public around, as we grew up using the park Rapheals Park in Romford seemed like the best idea. On our first day of filming we found the perfect place to set the film, it was a dog track but also could be used for people cutting through the park. Luckily it was a cold and a cloudy day to set the mood of the film. We had some difficulty when members of the public walked past as we then had to pause and start again, to ensure no-one other than the characters were on the set. On our second day of filming we got to the park and it was packed with families across the field due to it being a hot day. We then had to walk to another park around 20 minutes away, and find a spot that wasn't over populated with loud people. The grass was wet which meant we had to find somewhere on the pavement but a similar looking forest setting in the background. Once we done this we began to film.

Costumes:
Due to ‘Alice’ being filmed in a public place, we felt the characters that we portrayed needed to dress sensibly and normally, we decided to dress the main character, Alice, old-fashioned but with a hint of modernism so that the time-period was miss-leading and could be interpreted in various ways. We started with picking out a plain white school shirt but ensured the top button was done up to look smart. Then found a classic black pleated skirt as these are traditional and compliments the white shirt and cardigan. As the forecast on our first day of filming was set to be cold we found a classic burnt orange cardigan to keep her warm and ensure the costume didn't look like school uniform. We then picked knee high white socks as this would keep her legs warm and worked well with the rest of the outfit. The black pointed ballet pumps are quite modernised as they are accessorised with a bow. This adds simple detail to the outfit without being too outrageous.

Kayleigh was dressed smartly and in all black, this reflects her mood and how she was upset and finding it hard to cope with it being her sister that died. We also intended for the audience to believe she may have just come from the funeral and that's why she has turned up at her place of death bearing flowers.

Rosie and Helena were dressed in tracksuits and trainers, just what you'd expect to see young girls in when spending the day at the park. Dante also wore running clothes just to suit what he was doing in the film.

Title, Font and Style:
We decided as a group to use this style and coloured writing as this is what our focus group found was the most effective. We believe that the title 'Alice' covering the dark gloomy trees contrasts well with the theme of the film. The audiences' eye is quickly drawn by the young girl sitting in the centre of the woods, the reader can quickly assume that this is the character 'Alice', the way she is dressed fits the mood of the film and how she is possessed and a troubled little girl. The quote made by the Daily Mail, "Once you see her, nothing can save you" entices the audience to want to see it and maybe even buy it as it lets the audience know this is a thriller film. The five stars just makes the film more appealing to the public.

Camera Work and Editing:
We used an iPhone 5 to film our thriller. We tried to use a range of shots, including long shots, close ups and over the shoulder shot. We did this to look like we was more capable of a variety of shot types and angles. Our opening shot is a high angle shot, presenting the river and how this is relevant to the rest of the film, and allowing the audience to take in the Mise en scene of the area. We also used point of view shots, to engage with the audience and put them in our characters shoes, such as the innocent teenager receiving the text, and the sister laying down flowers at Alice's place of death. This also gives the audience an idea of the characters state of mind. The extreme close up of the camera panning into Alice's face emphasises horror and fear of her. As a group, we felt having the right camera shots was vital for each scene as we needed to emphasise the thrilling nature of events that were occurring, and needed to make the audience as uneasy and tense as possible whilst watching ‘Alice’.

Story and How the Opening Scene Sets It Up:
We knew from the start that we was going to use various story lines to cross cut in and out of various story lines. This we believed would be effective as they will never lose the viewers attention. We made sure that the same clips weren't ongoing for too long unless it was necessary. The story line for our thriller is the idea of a young girl drowning in a lake in an abandoned park and now haunting the place. Whether she is murdered or takes her own life is not suggested and is left to the viewers imagination. This is effective as we didn't want to give too much away. As the thriller is set in a modern day setting and leaves the opening on a cliff-hanger many doors are left open for when the opening is followed up with a main movie.
Genre and how the film suggests it:
The genre of our film opening is a thriller. We believe the black and white colouring creates a sense of eeriness and meets the connotations of a thriller. This is because having taken inspiration from similar films such as Cabin in the Woods, it became apparent that dullness creates the mysteriousness that the genre aims for. Also the fact that thrillers are supposed to make the audience ask themselves how things have happened and make assumptions is another way Alice meets this criteria. The cross-cutting leave the audience asking themselves how things have happened. For instance, why the boy is being watched. The fact that the boy is being followed also gives the audience the immediate impression that Alice is a thriller as this is very similar to the world famous thriller Orphan. The camera angles and mysterious acting give the audience a scared, confused feel as they are worried about what will happen next, as well as being unsure about who the girl is. The concept of a possessed girl fits into the main connotations of a thriller which can then add a horror/mysterious feel to the opening. The fact the genre meets these other genre conventions means it made sense to take ideas and inspiration from famous films such as Orphan and Cabin in the Woods.

How characters are introduced:
In the opening of our thriller, we firstly introduce Megan Beard who plays our main character Alice as we felt that she was the most important part and therefore needed to let the audience know this. The next person who was introduced was Dante Dragan as we felt that he played another important role as one of the victims in the opening of our thriller, he was then followed by Kayleigh Beard who played the protagonists sister as she was affected in a different way based on their relationship as two sisters. Lastly, we introduced the last two victims, Rosie Hopwood and Helena Kavanagh and felt that these characters added emotion and empathy to the story line as it showed how girls of a similar age to the possessed girl had the power to affect them also.